Work Is What You Do NOT Where You Go! COVID Reality.

With the Government's announcement on new COVID rules, intended to keep the UK as safe as possible for the next few weeks and months and ensure things don't get out of control, we face challenges that we hoped we would not have to.

In reality, we must prepare for another six months of most people working remotely, especially office workers and customer service, customer sellers, and support teams, who will mirror buyers, finance, and procurement in their customers, who will likely remain remote.

This will have a devastating effect on the high street, provide a real risk to business districts and the support businesses that inhabit them as people stay away, and continue to challenge the hospitality and travel industries, especially as trading hours are reduced.

The new rules are not seeking those in manufacturing to stay away from work because they can't work from home. Neither are they seeking to stop people working and trading, they just don't want people meeting face to face.

People can still buy and therefore sell, although its more digital, and today's announcements actually mean that what was the norm for the last six months is likely to remain and where people were hoping for a return to what were 2019 business activities, may not see them re-emerge until March 2021, if they do at all?

What is not for debate is the impact the effective continuation of remote working and interaction have on habit, and mental health. We will be digital in the main in most things we do business-wise by habit in a way that means we won't revert back from that.

The high street is impacted but retail sales have shifted with in excess of 48% of activity now online.

Almost all B2C sales, whether home improvements, automotive, media, or financial services are remote and digital. Businesses have adapted to the current reality, and demo's typically delivered at a person's home or in a shop are now online.

Over 72% of all B2C sales activity is now online.

The consequence for B2B is that the complexities of bringing back employees and keeping them safe are tough enough, so sellers can stay away for the foreseeable future.

If we thought life was going to go back to normal we now have to mentally pull ourselves up, prepare for more change and uncertainty, but have a clear strategy on customer-centricity going forward and how you are going to jointly define success measures.

The mental strain can not be underplayed on any of us, and the work-life balance we thought in the main would swing back towards pre COVID proportions, will not, so caring for each other will be critical going forward. But we can navigate this together, but it will be digital and at times tough.

Its time to be clear on how your customers want to be sold to, i.e behaviors and attitudes, not over which platform, be clear on their issues and how you support them and help them sell more, and create value for the future if we expect them to buy anything from us.